How I Wonder What You Are (A Byul Fanfiction)

Chapter 11

"Byul, wait!" Minhyuk almost tumbled down the staircase to block Moonbyul's path. "Um... I just remembered that my apartment isn't exactly presentable right now, so..." his voice trailed off as he racked his brain for somewhere to go.

"That's fine, oppa, I don't mind entering a messy house. At least it'll be warmer inside," Moonbyul shivered, rubbing her hands together to keep warm. Minhyuk then realized how thoughtless it was of him to meet Moonbyul at the top of a building, on a windy winter day; it hurt him even to see her shivering like that.

On an impulse, he reached for her hand and enveloped it with his bigger ones, trying to give her some warmth. "Come on, Byul, let's hurry down to my apartment then, there's a heater in the living room--" the sudden realization of what he was doing caused him to stop where he was again, unsure of whether to let go. You thoughtless idiot, stop being so impulsive today!

For a long moment, the two of them just stood there. The coldness in Moonbyul's hand and the warmth of his own became quite apparent to Minhyuk as he stared at their hands. He was too shy to look into her eyes, too awkward to move. And though the air seemed to freeze between them, his mind was going to explode soon with the frenzied thoughts punishing him for his recklessness.

And then Byul shifted, her voice stirring the air up: "Why did you stop moving? Let's go down, I'm freezing!" To his shock, she didn't pull her hand away. Instead she turned it around inside his grasp, and entwined her fingers with his. Minhyuk's eyes widened. Forcing himself into motion, he almost tripped over himself. Moonbyul laughed, which made his insides twist even more than they already were. Stop torturing me like this, Byul! He pleaded silently, his body rigid as they made their way down to his apartment. Because of Moonbyul, what was only a minute-long walk turned into a seemingly endless trip for Minhyuk, who was trying not to mess up even more.

Finally, the two came to his apartment door. Quickly, he relaxed his grip on Moonbyul's hand, and Moonbyul took her hand away, rubbing it gingerly. "You have such a punishing grip, oppa," she complained. "O-oh, sorry about that, I guess I was nervous about letting you see my messy apartment." And about messing up in general.

As both of them stepped inside, Moonbyul let out a sigh of happiness. "Oppa, this is so much warmer! Where do I put my things?" Minhyuk found himself releasing a long sigh of relief too as he took her bag and put it on the table.

"I bet you're judging my room really badly, aren't you?" Minhyuk asked, touching the back of his neck in embarassment.

"No! If you saw my room, you would be ashamed to call this messy," Moonbyul joked as she walked over to the sofa and sat down.

"Now, what do you want to play?" And thus began their 5-hour long gaming session. All personal feelings were cast aside as Minhyuk tried (in vain) to beat Moonbyul, who was a gadget expert. The nervousness which had threatened to grind his intestines to a pulp now lifted, cast away by their laughter, and 5 hours passed by in a flash. Along with the time, so did their awkwardness, and together they laughed, groaned and lost their images in front of each other.

"I won again -- I've already lost count of the number of times I won!" Moonbyul laughed, her nose muscles scrunching up in pure happiness. Minhyuk bowed down to her, finally admitting defeat -- "but only because I'm a gentleman," he joked.

Suddenly, a movement flashed in the corner of Minhyuk's eye, and both nearly jumped out of their wits as Moonbyul's poorly placed bag fell to the floor with a loud bump; sadly, this only served to remind him of the time. Minhyuk couldn't even think about ending the day, yet it was already 7 pm. Putting the controller down for the first time in 5 hours, he sighed. "Well, I guess that means I'll be treating us to some chicken, then."

While they waited for the chicken to arrive, Minhyuk turned the TV on and they sat side by side on the floor, watching a K-drama together. After the chaos that had happened while gaming, the room seemed so silent now, the only sound being the voices of the characters in the K-drama. But this time, the silence was comforting, and Minhyuk was warm despite the coldness of the hard wooden floor, knowing that he and Moonbyul were now much closer.

A sweet memory popped into Minhyuk's mind as he watched the romantic K-drama. "Byul-ah, I haven't said sorry for holding your hand when we were coming down here today," he said, looking down at his hands. Moonbyul smiled at him and answered, "It's not like this is the first time, oppa. We've held hands during music shows too." Minhyuk smiled back, remembering those wonderful times promoting together on music shows. "Well, if you're okay with it..." Slowly, he took her hand, put it in his own gently, and put them on his knee, not daring to look at her.

"Why so suddenly?" Moonbyul asked curiously, and Minhyuk wondered how a 24-year-old woman could still be so innocent. She's really cute. "I'm cold."

Moonbyul moved closer to him until their sides were pressing against each other's. "I'm cold too," She whispered. Minhyuk's heart fluttered wildly, and his cheeks reddened slightly. He stole a glance at her, but Moonbyul had turned back to watch the K-drama like she had done nothing. If she could read my mind, what a different state she would be in!

Minhyuk turned back to watch the K-drama too. The female lead had just fainted, and the camera was zoomed in on the male lead's face, anxiety and love spilling out of the pools that were his eyes.

Beside him, Moonbyul sighed. For the first time, Minhyuk saw true sadness welling up in her eyes. He asked, "What's the matter?" Moonbyul looked away, out of the window. "It's just... As the rapper in a vocal group, I feel left out sometimes. It's almost a feeling of loneliness, I guess. That female character is really lucky, to have someone care for her so much."

"Doesn't Solar treat you really well?" "Yes, we love each other a lot, but... I just feel like being a rapper creates this wall between the two of us that I'm unable to penetrate. I don't really know what I'm saying either," Moonbyul smiled with watery eyes, which broke Minhyuk's heart.

"I'll be there for you, Byul. Don't worry." Minhyuk turned her face around and pulled her into a hug, stroking her hair as he did so, trying to comfort her as much as possible. Moonbyul was rigid for a while; then she loosened, and her hands slowly went up to hug Minhyuk too.

You have to confess now, Minhyuk! You won't get another chance. She's sad and in need of love, which you can give her! Just tell her now...

She'll reject me, I know she will. She said she loved Solar just now!

That's because they're members. She doesn't mean it, just go ahead and confess already!

The mental argument going on inside his head was giving him a headache, but  the warmth of Moonbyul's body against his distracted him again and he focused on her scent, sweeter than sweet (hello namjoon). It melted his heart to know that she was so soft, beneath a layer of confidence and coolness, and as his heartbeat quickened he turned his head to kiss her cheeks, unable to control his feelings anymore.

Just before his lips touched her cheek, the doorbell rang. Of course, chicken just had to save him now, because why not ruin the best moment of his life for him?

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haha told u it was a long chapter so i had to end it at the chicken

anyway idk how many of u actually like this, if u read up to here then thanks! tell me if i should do a bangtanmoo fanfic!!! i live for bangtanmoo